THE MARATHON MAN / Cambridge man still running strong

Cambridge distance runner Bill Pattison still going, going and going ... at ripe age of 80!

When looking back on a lifetime of running, what stands out? After running in almost 350 races, how does one keep track of where one has have been? -- what races were run? -- how well did the runner finish?

If you are Bill Pattison, you pull out the books. You look at the spreadsheets. You read through each race's record book. You have the concrete evidence of the miles and miles and miles you have ran and the hundreds of races you have participated in. You also have the medals and awards that remind you that you not only participated, you won.

Mr. Pattison has been a runner for as long as he can remember. As a boy, he remembers running while chasing rabbits. As he got a little bit older, the running came in the form of playing childhood games such as Red Rover, hide-and-go-seek, and kick-the-can. During his adolescents he recalls running from house to house on Halloween, sometimes soaping windows.

The distance running began around age 14 when Pattison was working for Frank Vessel. He would help deliver milk every morning. Before school, Pattison would run a mile to meet the milk truck in his street shoes. He would deliver the milk and then head to school. After a year of running a mile every day, Paul Bremigan, a high school senior, encouraged him to join the track team. After some begging and pleading on Bremigan's part, Pattison joined the varsity track team as a freshman. His first year on the team he didn't win a single event. But, as a sophomore, he broke the school mile-run record. Pattison was the first to break the 5-minute barrier with a time of 4:59.8. After that year, his dad wouldn't let him go out for the track team again - he was concerned about his heart. He did go out for the team again during his senior year. After graduation and up until 1969, when Pattison was 36, he hadn't done much distance running. He participated in other sports and remained in fairly good shape.

While vacationing in Florida, Pattison read an article titled "Aerobics" by Dr. Kenneth Cooper. The article expressed the benefits of being a distance runner. The article motivated him so much that he didn't wait for his vacation to end to begin running. He started running on the beach. When they returned to Cambridge, he continued his training. This led him to 'running into' Ron Guthrie and Joe Goodwin. The three began running together regularly and they eventually convinced Pattison to run in his first organized road race.

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The Amoco Run was Pattison's first race. It was in Canton on Oct. 11, 1970. It was a 6.5-mile run. He finished 55th out of 210 runners -- seventh in his age group -- with a time of 49:57.

After that first race, one could say that Pattison was hooked.

He continued to train. Pattison and Guthrie would run together.

"I hate running uphill," Pattison confessed. "Ron will run ahead of me when we are going uphill and put his hand out behind him. I have to slap his hand every so often to keep me going up."

Pattison compares running uphill to homework. He says, "You don't like to do it, but it has to be done."

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All the 'homework' paid off on April 18, 1978 when Pattison ran in The Boston Marathon. "It's every marathon runners dream to finished under three hours," he said. On that day, in that race, Pattison achieved that dream. He finished with a time of 2:57:04 at the age of 35.

Bill and his wife, Mary Ellen, have lived in many places. Together, they have called many states their home. He continued to run and even participated on several company running teams throughout the years. With a degree in chemistry, his work has taken Pattison and Mary Ellen to Wisconsin, New York, Florida, Colorado and back to Ohio. Ohio, Cambridge to be exact, is where they chose to retire.

"It takes five minutes to get almost anywhere you want to go and there are no drive-by shootings," he offered as an explanation to their choice.

Over the course of his 43-years of running, Pattison has achieved more than many could ever hope. He has earned five All-American Awards; Orlando, Fla. (5K race), Feb. 2, 1990, with a time of 18:15; Minster, Ohio (10K race), Oct. 4, 1998, with a time of 41:59; Orlando, Fla. (5K race), Jan. 30, 1999, with a time of 20:58; Hilton Head, South Carolina (5K race), July 4, 2000, with a time of 21:23; and Pittsburgh, Penn. (10K race), Sep. 24, 2000 with a time of 42:18.

He has 214 medals. Of those medals 137 of them are first place in his age group; 50 are for second place in his age group; and 27 are for third place in his age group.

Pattison has run in 340 races in twenty-four states and even one race in Ontario, Canada. But, he didn't stop there. He has also participated in events in 11 states and 13countries!

Sixteen marathons, eleven half-marathons, eight 20Ks, eight 16Ks, seven 15Ks, twenty 8Ks, eighty 10Ks, and one-hundred and nine 5Ks is a very impressive running resume. What's even more impressive is that has many more miles left in him! He has ran at least one race per year for the past forty-years. He plans to continue that streak as long as he can.

"I remain very active," Pattison said. "I work at Muskingum University in the chemistry lab. The job and all the walking on campus is more exercise than many people my age get. My wife and I also have a garden and I run on the weekends if I feel like it."

This year, Bill had a milestone birthday. He turned 80 years young. As for his running streak, he has already raced his "one" race for the year. While visiting his very first great-grandchild, he ran in the Spokane Color Run, a 5K race.

"Color Runs are my favorite," he said. "They are a lot of fun."

A "Color Run" is "The Happiest 5K on the Planet," or so the website suggests. The Color Run is less about your time and more about having fun and making memories. Runners start off wearing white and finish plastered in color. As runners reach every kilometer mark, they are doused in different colored powders. The finish is referred to as the "Finish Festival" where even more colored powder is thrown on the runners. The events, which are scheduled across the country, are about promoting health and happiness.

It's ironic that Pattison says these are his favorite races. He once said, "I don't run for good health, I run to kick-ass!"

But, after 43 years of running, 341 races, 214 medals and being a 5-time All American, Pattison has earned the right to run for the fun of it.

He has "kicked ass" and should enjoy the many more miles that are ahead of him.